About a year ago, my wife and I had an opportunity to select a name for our expected baby. However, we did not know whether our baby would be a boy or a girl. So we thought names for both boy and girl.

Like my daughter, when they were born, babies were not able to select their own names. Most of the names will be given by their parents, relatives, friends, and so forth. They try to give the best name to their child reflecting their hopes and aim in life.

Shinran Shonin, as you know, it is the name of the founder of Jodo Shinshu. He had several names throughout his life. Significant happenings during his life caused his name to be changed. Matsuwaka-maro was his first name, given by his parents. His parents’ best wishes are reflected on this name, meaning "a young boy grows as a pine tree."

Upon entering the monkhood at the age of nine, the name Hannen was given to him by the master Jichin. The first character "Han" was adopted from his father’s name, Aki-nori Hino. "Nori" is also pronounced as "Han".

After descending from Mt. Hiei, becoming a disciple of Honen Shonin, the name Shakku was given to him by the master. "Shaku" was adopted from the 4^th master of Jodo Shinshu, Do-Shaku, and "Ku" was from the 7^th master, Gen-Ku (Honen Shonin). The name was later changed to Zenshin which was conferred upon him by the vision of Prince Shotoku, consisting of Zen-Do of the 5^th master and Gen-Shin of the 6^th master.

In 1207, exiled by the government, he was denied of his monkhood and given the secular name. At that time, the followers of the Nembutsu increased so rapidly that the scholars of Mt. Hiei and Nara became jealous of Honen Shonin. They feared that the center of Buddhism was gradually moved to Nembutsu teachings. The jealous monks approached the imperial court and claimed that the way of the Nembutsu teachings were not according to the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. They denounced Honen Shonin and the Nembutsu teachings. As the result, the imperial court could not drop the matter and was forced to take action against Honen Shonin and his disciples.

An order was issued to Honen Shonin and seven of his disciples including Shinran Shonin. They were given secular names, because the imperial court could not punish monks by laws of the time. Shinran Shonin’s secular name was Yoshizane Fujii. However, he chose his last name as Toku for himself. By adopting the name "Toku", he declared he was neither a monk nor a layman. The name "Toku" was usually preceded by "Gu" which means ignorant. Thus, the name Gutoku was consisted.

While still in Echigo, he added the name Shinran, composed of Ten-Jin of the 2^nd master ("Shin" is another pronunciation of the character "Jin".) and Don-Ran of the 3^rd master. He used Gutoku Shinran as his full name for the reminder of his life.

As I see from his names, I feel his names were simply expression of his gratitude to the Nembutsu teachings. He was especially thankful to those Pure Land masters for the wonderful gift of Amida Buddha.

"How joyous I am, Gutoku Shinran, disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha! Rare is it to come upon the sacred scriptures from the westward land of India and the commentaries of the masters of China and Japan, but now I have been able to encounter them. Rare it is to hear them, but already I have been able to hear. Reverently entrusting myself to the teaching, practice, and realization that are the true essence of the Pure Land way, I am especially aware of the profundity of the Tathagata’s benevolence. Here I rejoice in what I have heard and extol what I have attained."

(The Collected Works of Shinran, page 4)

Namo-Amidabutsu